It makes burdens heavier. It makes temptations insurmountable. It makes tribulations unbearable. It makes obedience impossible. What is it? Prayerlessness.
Without prayer, believers are without peace, power, patience, and potential. This is because God has ordained prayer as the instrument through which His children can obtain all of these blessings. Prayer is the conduit through which the believer receives the “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Phil. 4:6-7). Prayer is the channel through which the Christian obtains temptation-overcoming power (Matt. 26:41). Prayer is the vehicle that God uses to grant patience and perseverance to His people in times of pain (James 1:4-8). And prayer is the pipeline that gives God’s children the Spirit-enabled desire and ability to obey His commands (Gal. 5:16; Eph. 6:18).
If we do not remain on our knees in the posture of prayer, we forfeit all of those blessings, just like Peter did. The reason he denied Christ three times was because of prayerlessness. While Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He admonished Peter twice to pray so that he would not fall into temptation (Luke 22:39-46). Satan wanted to sift him like wheat, and Peter needed to pray for perseverance to withstand his attacks (Luke 22:31-34). But, there is no such prayer recorded in the Gospels. Instead, what is recorded is his serious sin of denying Christ thrice (Luke 22:54-62).
Peter evidently realized that persistent prayer is a priority since he wrote about it three times in his First Epistle (1 Peter 3:7, 12; 4:7). The prophet Samuel understood the seriousness of prayerlessness, too. That’s why he declared to the Israelites, “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you” (1 Samuel 12:23a, KJV). Additionally, prayerlessness is not only a sin, it is also a death sentence for any believer. That is why the reformer Martin Luther once observed, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”
Therefore, believers must “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). Christians should pray at all times in the Spirit (Eph. 6:18). God’s children should constantly cry out to the Father who knows their needs (Matt. 6:5-13). All those redeemed by Christ ought to confidently and continuously approach the throne of grace by kneeling in prayer before the Lord (Heb. 4:16). In spite of its age, the classic hymn What a Friend We Have in Jesus still rings true:
“What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer!” (Joseph Medlicott Scriven, 1819—1886)
Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).
For more devotional entries like this, check out Brandon’s latest book, Bible Gleanings Volume II, which features 100 daily devotionals gleaned from God’s word:
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